Meg Wolitzer
Raschka is known mostly for his picture books, but words have been essential to him too, in a minimalist way. His first book for older readers, Seriously, Norman! though dotted with black-and-white spot drawings, is a novel through and through…and it's a very amusing one. But reading it is a visual, loopy, absurdist experience, not exactly like reading most novels, and less like looking at a picture than entering one…As for the split between the visual and the verbal, Raschka finesses it well, and ends up scoring very high in both categories.
—The New York Times Book Review
From the Publisher
Praise for SERIOUSLY, NORMAN!
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK
"Appealingly quirky and adventurous; a celebration of the power of thinking outside the box."--KIRKUS REVIEWS
"This rousing tale contains strong wordplay and a lot of humor."--HORN BOOK
"A visual, loopy, absurdist experience."--THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
JANUARY 2012 - AudioFile
Norman; his best friend, Leonard; and twins Anna and Emma take it upon themselves to save Norman’s used-bomb-selling father and point him in the right direction. This clever story celebrates language with its puns and wordplay (along with quite a few dictionary entries). Jesse Bernstein’s narration talents are put to good use in this quirky story. Norman’s attempts to save his father and make sense of the world are deftly portrayed by Bernstein, who plays with his delivery to capture the antics and drama of the story. His pacing and cadence are perfect for following the story along its wacky and word-filled journey. Bernstein’s narration rockets this book into the imagination. J.K.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
A gently satirical and ultimately liberating look at modern education.
Norman Normann's well-meaning dad finds a tutor for him when Norman's scores on his first go at the high-school entrance exam are less than stellar. The tutor (the best his parents could find at the last minute), Balthazar Birdsong, has nearly Holmesian powers of deduction, along with a pedagogical philosophy of observation, imagination and finally action. His tutoring method informs the loose-seeming collection of activities that follow, among them kite-flying, sky-watching and, for Norman, an A-to-Z reading of the dictionary that becomes almost oracular. Birdsong's trust in his young students (he enfolds Norman's friends Leonard and twins Anna and Emma under the wings of his singular, slightly zany tutelage) includes his assumption that they will not be harmed by long walks, new ideas or perhaps (though he isn't present for the conversation) even by discussing their discovery of the word "shit" and its etymology in the dictionary. The year is so empowering that when Norman and his friends, his mother in tow, set out for Singapore to rescue Norman's cash-hungry used-bomber–salesman father from mysterious fur-hatted Alfurnian agents, the children are able to greet all challenges with equanimity. The author's diminutive, bold-lined drawings, inserted intermittently, by turns emphasize and elucidate the narrative.
Appealingly quirky and adventurous; a celebration of the power of self-directed learning and thinking outside the box. (Fiction. 10-13)
